Global Traffic Recovers to 97.3% of Pre-COVID Levels-IATA
IATA reports global traffic in September 2023 reached 97.3% of pre-COVID levels.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that the strong post-pandemic passenger traffic trend continued in September 2023.
Total traffic in September 2023, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs), rose 30.1% compared to September 2022. Globally, traffic is now at 97.3% of pre-COVID levels.
Domestic traffic hit a new high for the month of September, as traffic rose 28.3% versus September 2022 and exceeded the September 2019 level by 5.0%.
International traffic climbed 31.2% compared to the same month a year ago. All markets saw double-digit percentage gains year on year. International RPKs reached 93.1% of September 2019 levels.
International Passenger Markets – MEA Regions
Middle Eastern airlines saw a 26.6% increase in September traffic compared to a year ago. Capacity rose 23.7% and load factor climbed 1.9 percentage points to 81.8%.
African airlines posted a 28.1% traffic increase in September 2023 versus a year ago. Capacity was up 29.9% and load factor slipped 1.0 percentage points to 72.6%.
Director General Calls for Solutions to Supply Chain Issues
Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, said:
“Supply chain issues in the aircraft manufacturing sector are unacceptable. They have held back the recovery and solutions must be found. The same holds true for infrastructure providers, particularly air navigation service providers. Equipment failures, staffing shortages and labor unrest made it impossible to deliver the flying experience our customers expect. A successful 2024 needs the whole value chain to be fully prepared to handle the demand that is coming.”
